Chapter Four~A Travers La Mer~

Father and Son~

Guy

The remainder of our journey to the port went without incidence. The storm we had expected never came and we were all thankful for that. We reached a tavern just before nightfall so we decided to get something to eat and stay the night with the idea that we would be refreshed in the morning for the voyage to France.

Robin spoke to the innkeeper, "My good man, do you have lodgings and a supper for our company?"

"That is quite a large group you have. I'm not sure if I have enough rooms for all."

Aylaina stepped forward to address the man. "I. and this other woman", she inclined her head toward Kate, " are servants to this lady," she gestured to the queen, "and we could stay in one room." I saw Aylaina take the man's hand.

"Surely you would have enough room now?" she asked.

The innkeeper replied, "Yes, I believe we can work something out. Please come into the dining hall and we will serve you some of our finest stew!"

The dining hall was a large room with several long tables in rows from one wall to the other. Many people were seated, some eating, some simply drinking.

As we took our seats at one of the long tables, I said to Aylaina, "Do not borrow trouble," referring to her chat with the innkeeper. To which Robin merrily exclaimed, "She doesn't have to borrow it, Guy, She already owns it!"

Turning her gaze to Robin, Aylaina laughed back, "It seems to me that you own about as much trouble as I do, Lord Locksley!"

Robin chuckled at this. Then he called to the innkeeper, "Bring us a jug of ale and some wine, good man! We have had a long trip."

The table held our entire company and I noticed that Elliot sat at the far end with Archer across from him. They seemed to have formed a bond of sorts. Aylaina sat next to me. Kate, Robin and John sat across from us. The Queen sat next to John-who squirmed uncomfortably, even as he smiled sheepishly. Ian was seated beside Aylaina, and the soldiers across from each other.

Lord MacLeod addressed his daughter, "What did ye give that man, lass? Now there's no use denying it," Ian said as Aylaina shook her head, "I saw ye!"

Aylaina, looking a bit sheepish, replied, "I had a few gold coins. I thought it would speed up the process if he had a little incentive."

A serving woman brought out a large pot and some bowls and began ladling out the stew for each of us.

After taking a large spoonful of stew, I turned to Aylaina. "Where did you get gold coins?" I asked since we hadn't done any robbing from the rich before we left.

Aylaina, quite indignant, answered, "Conor did not leave me without provision! He thought that someday he might be killed in battle. He wanted to make sure I was provided for as he knew his family would not care for me." She lowered her head and took a deep breath, then raising her head again, she continued, addressing me, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Guy. I just thought I would use it in case of emergencies."

"And buying a gown back in Locksley was an emergency?" I retorted.

"Well, yes," Aylaina responded, her eyes laughing, "I was angry with you at the time, remember?

"I do." I said and left it at that. Conversation stopped as everyone was busy eating. Robin passed round the jug of ale to the men and the ladies all had wine.

Just as we were leaving to go to our rooms, a fight broke out among the men that were drinking. Robin glanced at me and a slight smile crossed his lips and mine as I remembered the fight in the tavern at York when we broke Archer out of jail. It wasn't funny to me at the time, but now I could recall it with humor.

Robin, John and I agreed to stand watch in the hallway where the rooms were. One can never be too careful when delivering precious cargo. Aylaina and Kate escorted the queen to their room. Before she closed the door, I kissed Aylaina goodnight and went to the room I shared with Archer and Ian. Robin would be sleeping here, too when his watch was over. John went to the room with Elliot and Ian's soldiers.

It seemed like only moments later when Robin woke me for my watch. I sat down in the chair at the head of the staircase, my arms across my chest and leaned my head back against the wall.

Hearing the sound of a door open, I inclined my head to see who it was. Elliot stepped quietly to where I was sitting and sat down on the top step, resting his back against the stair post. For a long time neither of us spoke.

Then Elliot began, "I've hayrd awful things about ye," he said in a strangled voice. "How could my mother love ye?"

How was I supposed to answer a question like that? All I could give Elliot was the truth as I saw it.

"I do not know, except that she has a forgiving heart." I breathed a heavy sigh. "She says her God forgives me if I want it."

"He is your God, too." Elliot replied, though he his tone indicated that he did not like it.

"So, she has taught you from the Bible?" I inquired.

"As did my grandfather." Elliot said, his manner easing up. He shifted his position to look more fully at me. I sensed he wanted to talk but was wrestling with his pride.

'It runs in the family.' I thought to myself. I must have loosened my body from it's tense posture because Elliot began to speak again.

"Has Robin forgiven ye?" he asked.

It pained me that Elliot knew what I had done to Marian. I replied, "Again, I do not know. We have come to an understanding and Archer being both our brother, we ...tolerate each other." My countenance was at ease now and waited for more questions.

"I have talked a lot to Archer and he felt abandoned by his father. But ye did not abandon me-because ye did not know of me-and I have a difficult time putting this all together." Elliot said, illustrating his clear confusion with having a father he did not respect.

Elliot's lips curved down at the corners as he spoke. "My mother never told me about ye. I found out when my...father's family sent her back to my grandfather. But I always had my suspicions because people would sometimes whisper when I was around." His eyes lowered when he said this.

Resting my forearms on my knees, I looked at Elliot with real empathy.

"Elliot, when my mother told me she was going to marry Malcolm Locksley, I was so angry with her. She was pregnant with his child at the time, but I have only recently found out about it. I did not like hearing that my mother had a child out of wedlock. That was before I knew about you. Knowing the way it happened with your mother and me gave me a better understanding of my mother's feelings for Malcolm Locksley,"

Sitting back straight in the chair, I went on, "As I said, I was so angrywith my mother when she told me she was going to marry Robin's father, that I ran out of my house and went to a place your mother and I shared to get away from the other kids. She was there and crying because your grandfather had set her to marry Conor MacLaren.

"I," and I had to take a deep breath to keep control of my emotions. "I loved her so much. I couldn't bear to let her go. I told her I wanted to marry her."

Stopping, for I found it hard to go on, Elliot urged me to continue. "And?"

"We said the words from the Bible that would marry us before God, but I knew it wasn't real, though I wanted it to be. "We kissed for the first time..."

"Aye, I know the rest." Elliot's demeanor had changed. He seemed more at ease.

With a sigh, he said, "My mother was always good to my father, to Conor, but I could tell they did not have,' here he paused, "passion for one another. That must have been because they both loved other people. There was a woman in the village everybody said was going to marry Conor until my mother showed up. My poor mother had to endure all their scorn until the men went off to war and she was the only one who tried to defend our village. She taught us boys to use a bow and a sling shot. Soon the other women were helping. Eventually, the pillagers came less and less. The women of our village, even the one who was supposed to marry Conor, accepted her. B-but not my grandmother and aunts. They shunned her, and belittled her in front of the vilagers." He stopped to brush back tears.

Trying to steer Elliot away from painful memories, I said, "Aylaina was always very spirited. That is what I love about her! If I had known her predicament I would have married her, but since she was taken away, I never knew what happened to her or your grandfather until she returned to Locksley. Your mother would not accept that I was completely evil. She would always tell me that God has forgiven me and that I only had to accept his forgiveness. Though I can hardly believe such a thing is possible I love her all the more for believing it herself!"

"Ye do love her, don't ye?" Elliot replied, brightening.

"Very much." I said, earnestly. "I would die for her." and as I said this, I realised I really would die for Aylaina.

"Let us hope it does not come to that." Elliot said, standing up. I stood, as well. His coutenance was no longer angry. He put his hand out. I took it in mine and we gripped tightly. Finally, WE had come to an understanding.

To the Ship!~

Aylaina

The sun had not quite risen when a knock at the door woke me. It was my father saying it was time to go. Kate was awake so she woke Eleanor.

"Is it morning already?" Eleanor asked. "I feel as though I had only just fallen asleep."

Getting dressed, I made sure I cinched my pouch with my gun in it tightly around my waist. Putting my cloak over me for it was cold, I helped Eleanor with her cloak. We opened the door to see all the men waiting in the hallway for us. Once at the bottom of the stairs the innkeeper told his groom to fetch our horses. Two pretty young women were smiling at Archer and Elliot and they followed them outside.

'What harm can a little flirtation do?' I thought. We were leaving as it was, so I wasn't too concerned.

The innkeeper informed us that our horses were ready. Father said he would have to sell them as there was no room on the ship for them. We all went outside.

Looking around, I could not spot Elliot or Archer.

"Guy," I said, the worry in my voice, "Do you see Elliot anywhere?" He looked around.

"Did he come out ahead of us?" Guy queried. Robin was approaching us as we spoke.

"He and Archer followed some young girls out just a moment ago." I replied. "But I didn't think anything of it."

Guy and Robin exchanged glances. They began searching around the building. Two men were standing off to the side. Robin engaged them in conversation. Then he came back to where I stood with the rest of our group.

"Look out there," he pointed toward the ocean. "Archer and Elliot have been taken on board that ship!" I put my hands to my mouth, my nerves on edge.

"What has happened to them?" I cried, fearing the worst.

"Those men over there said three French sailors grabbed them, accusing them of trying to jump ship and they had to get them to the captain for disciplinary action."

"No!" I yelled and ran to the water. It was icy cold but I kept running until the water was high enough for me to swim. Feeling something tugging at my waist, I looked to see what it was. Guy had a hold of me. He pulled me from the water.

"I can reach that ship," I cried. "Let me go!"

Guy, holding on to me tightly, said, "Come back, Aylaina, you can not do anything about it. We have the ship. Let us get on board quickly. Maybe we can catch up to them."

I was still wrestling in Guy's arms, but was tiring of the fight. Finally, I gave in and walked back to the shore. Soaked from head to foot, Guy retrieved a blanket and put it around me and we headed for my father's ship.

The ship was not like anything I had ever seen. Sailing, or even taking a cruise was never on the agenda back home. The only ships I had been on were Navy vessels and this bore no resemblance to American warships. The style of ship was called a Nef, Anglo- Norman in origin. She was sleek, narrow in beam and said to be very fast, having a large sail, she did not often need men to row. She had fore and aft castles and a rudder, which was the latest technology for this time period. Under the aft castle was a cabin for us and there was storage space under the deck planks for our supplies. Father had sold our horses to a merchant in the village where the tavern was. That meant we would have to buy horses once we arrived in France.

Once aboard the ship, the captain gave the order to cast off. Soon we were moving along at a fair clip. The sea air was cool and blowing in our favor. I hadn't been to the ocean since I traveled to this time period over a year ago. After about an hour, we were still far behind the ship that held Elliot and Archer. I knew they both were experienced young men but I was still afraid for them. No one had any idea as to why they were kidnapped other than to make slaves out of them. Knowing Archer, I didn't think he would remain a slave for long and would soon find a way to get free once ashore and Elliot was a battle-trained man. He could defend himself when and if they got a chance to escape. We were going to make sure we were there when that happened.

Never in my life had I been seasick, but I became aware of a light-headedness and had to sit down. Up to this point I had been standing at the bow of the ship, keeping my eye on the other vessel. Guy was helping Father's soldiers to stow the weapons in the hold. My father and Robin were beside me and could see that I was unstable. They helped me to the cabin below.

"Now, Aylaina, ye stay here and change yer clothes." My father told me. "Ye are soaking wet."

Robin said, "We will keep watch and Guy will let you know of any change of circumstance."

Too feeble to argue, I let Kate help me change clothes. She and Eleanor helped me into one of the bunks. Beginning to shiver, I pulled the blanket close about me and feel into a deep sleep.